Hamas refuses flotilla aid delivered by Israel

An Israeli soldier stands next to humanitarian aid seized from the flotilla. Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

The de facto Hamas government in Gaza has refused to accept truckloads of aid offloaded from the flotilla raided by Israeli forces earlier this week.

According to officials in Gaza, Hamas has said it will not permit the supplies to enter the besieged territory until all detained activists are released and Israel agrees to deliver all aid consignments, including construction materials.

Israel agreed to deliver the aid after it forcibly blocked the flotilla's passage to Gaza on Monday, in an assault by naval commandos that ended in the deaths of nine pro-Palestinian activists.

But construction materials, which Israel claims could be seized by militants for use in making weapons and building underground bunkers, were excluded.

The flotilla was thought to be carrying about 8,000 tons of cement and other materials which have been barred by Israel since it tightened its blockade on the Gaza Strip three years ago.

Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed during the three-week Gaza war in 2008-9. The embargo on building materials has left families living in tents, crowded in with relatives or forced to move in to expensive rented accommodation.

"Israel brought five truckloads of wheelchairs to the crossings, but Hamas turned them back," said the official in Gaza City. "It all went back to Ashdod."